There are a variety of wiper arms on which wiper blades are provided as original equipment. These various wiper arms have hooks, pins, or other configurations which may connect to the wiper blade with or without connectors. These various configurations have created a problem in the replacement market because wiper blade providers are required to have multiple wiper blade configurations to accommodate all of the existing wiper arms. It is therefore advantageous to have attachment structures that can accommodate a host of arms to reduce the complexity and cost associated with plurality of wiper blade arm configuration.
Two commonly used wiper arms in the art include the single tongue wiper arm disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,891,044, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, and the double tongue wiper arm disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,716,780, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. To fit both the '044 wiper arm and the '780 wiper arm requires a particularly sized and structured wiper blade connector to be compatible with the single tongue wiper arm and the double tongue wiper arm, respectively. To install an original equipment replacement blade onto a single tongue wiper arm, the wiper blade (with affixed wiper blade connector) must be joined with the wiper arm at an awkward angle such that the wiper arm's tongue engages the tongue receiver located on the wiper blade connector. The wiper blade and connector pairing is then rotated to bring it into a position parallel to the wiper blade arm, thereby locking the wiper blade assembly into place. A similarly arduous process is required for installation of an original equipment replacement wiper blade with a double tongue wiper arm. The front tongue engages the tongue receiver, similar to the single tongue connection process, after which the wiper blade and connector pairing must be rotated towards the wiper arm while ensuring that the rear tongue does not interfere with the cover of the second tongue receiver. After the rear tongue has cleared the cover, the wiper blade and connector pair must be pulled backwards for locked attachment with the wiper arm.